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' G. OROMPTQN.

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No. 274,913. Patented A'pr .3,1883.

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u. wring mwmm m Wuninm ac UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE OROMPTON,,OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS,

Loom.

srncxmca'rrolvrormin part of Letters Patent No. 274,913, dated April 3,1.883.

I Application filed December 9, 1881. No model.)

the lay heats up the filling while that portion of the warp-threadswhich are required to be shilted are passing from one plane to theopposite plane of a shed, it frequently happens that certain ofthethreads remain in one plane of the shed fora number of consecutivepickssometimes as many as sixteen to twenty picksbefore being shifted,which results in such threads becoming longer than those which areinterwoven into the fabric with more frequency, and when the said longeror less frequently moved threads are finally crossedand interwoven theyhave a tendency to form loops on the surface of the fabric, or else, byreason of their slackness, form an indistinct pattern by moving asideout of a straight line under the influence of improper deflection,filling up the interstices on the face of the fabric,which intersticesform part of the pattern.

In the usual open-shed loonnwhen the pattern requires that nearly allthe warp-threads be shifted from one plane to the opposite plane of theshed, the beat of the lay takes place when the majority of thewarp-threads are midwaybetween the two planes, and consequently slack,so that the blow of the lay or its reed is brought almost entirely uponthe few threads which are held taut and are not being shifted, and theselatter threads are thus unduly stretched and frequently broken.

1 When the lay or reed beats a weft-thread into the fell between a smallnumber of threads so held taut while the main body of the warps areloose, the loosely-held warps are liable to have loops formedin them onthe face of the fabric, as before stated. I y

In seeking to remedy some of these difficulties the sheds have beenopened and closed earlier in the movement of the lay, so as to cross thewarps upon the filling and enable the lay to beat up the filling afterthe formation of the next shed back of that in which the said fillingrests; but such timing is very objectionable, because of gridironing thefilling, and thus greatly increasing the formation of loops in those ofthe warp-threads which have become somewhat longer by reason of nothaving been so frequently crossed into the shed.

-When the filling is beats or pressed into a partially-open shed thedrag of the filling between the warp-threads which are passing to theupper and lower planes of the shed, or from one to the other plane whenforming a new shed, gridirons the filling, as it is called, as itisbeing beat up to thefelhand frequently draws the warp-threads which arebeing changed, they being at such times slack, toward the fell,resulting in throwing up loops in the loose warp-threads or making arough appearance in the cloth, which is objectionable.

In weaving, the shed l'or the passage of the shuttle with the filling isformed by separating the warps into two planes, and to secure the bestresults the harness-frames carrying the heddles the eyes of whichcontain the warpthreads have successively a little moremovement,commencing with the first harness-frame toward the lay and proceedingbackward through the series of harness-frames, to thus bring all thewarp-threads between the heddleeyes and the fell of the cloth,or theline of the last crossing of weft or filling over the warps, in twocompact even planes, or substantially so, thus forming whatisdenominated an even shed. I

In close-shed looms of the class shown, for instance, in United StatesLetters Patent No. 491, granted November 25, 1837, to William Grompton,the harness-fram.es,after each passage of the weft or filling throughthe shed formed in the warp, are moved to bring all the warp-threadsinto one line or level, to even the warp, as it is called, and thenthose warps to appear in the upper part of. the new shed are lifted fromthe common level of all the evened warp-threads. In this class ofloomeach warp-thread, durin gt-he extent of its movement in forminga shedand being evened into one plane, is subjected to thesame strain as eachof all the other threads; or, in other words,

some of the Warp-threads are not held tent and some looser, as in theso-called openshed loom In the latter class of loom, upon which mypresent invention is an improvement, the warps are separated into twoplanes to form a shed for the passage of the filling, and the shedhaving been fully opened, all the warp-threads are held equally taut. Ina loom of this class, when a succeeding shed is to be formed, all thewarp-threads are not brought into the same plane or evened, asstatedwhen referring to the close-shed loom; butonly those threads of the warpare changed from one to the other of the two planes of the shed which inthe new shed are to appear upon the opposite face of the fabric to thaton which they last in the old shed.

appeared, or to be concealed in the body of the fabric, this dependinguponthe pattern. In this plan it will be noticed that in forming the newshed a part of the warp-threads-viz., those threads which are not beingmoved by the heddles, but held in the two extremes or planes of theshed-are held taut, while all the warp-threads that are being changed ormoved from one to the other plane of the shed by the heddles are slackor loose. During such time, if the filling is carried forward betweenthe moving warps by the reed. of the lay as it approaches its fell, thefilling will be gridironed, the loose warps will be dragged forward andbuckled up at the fell, and the'blow of the reed on the filling at thefell will excessively strain the distended or taut warps.

In all open-shed fancy-looms as heretofore commonly made, so far as I amaware, the picking has been commenced when the lay was substantiallyhalf-way back, and the shuttle has finished its flight when the lay wasmoved about half-way forward,and in such looms the formation of each newshed has been commenced just as, the shuttle reached the end of itsflight; but theshed has not been fully completed until after the reed,in the forward movement of the lay, has beat up the filling In this wayit will be seen that each crossing of filling, before it is beat in, ispressed at bottom and top by the warpthreads then being changed to formthe next shed, such threads crimping the filling and producing such apressure on the latter as it is heat up that it freqently acts to dragforward with it the warp-threads then being changed from one to theother plane of the shed, as stated,they being at such times somewhatloose or slack, causing the formation of loops both in the warps andfilling and making rough the face of the fabric.

In this my invention I propose to remedy these difficulties by pressingthe filling into the fell ofthe open shed when all of the warpthreadsare fully distended, after which those warp-threads which in theproduction of the pattern are required to be shifted in the formation ofthe next shed are crossed as thelay is being moved backward, and withthe lay in its backward position the filling is again inserted into thenew shed, and is heat up into that same shed while the warps are heldstationary and distended. By pressing or heating the filling into theopen shed when every thread is equally distended or held under greateststrain by the harness, all the warpthreads receive about an equal amountof tension, and are not liable to be broken or unduly stretched, whichprevents the buckling or looping of the threads, and indistinctness ofthe pattern is obviated.

It is a well-established fact that some patterns of cloth produced onclose-shed looms cannot be satisfactorily woven upon open-shed looms asheretofore constructed; but in an open-shed loom organized to operate inthe manner herein described it is possible in openshed looms to weaveany desired pattern, and by my improvements, hereinafter set forth inthe claims at the end of this specification, the capacityofopen-shedlooms is greatly increased.

I have provided between the crank or layshaft and the cam-shaft, whichis the source of motion for both the picking and shedding mechanisms, avariable or fast and slow speed mechanism or device which will operatethe parts of the open shed-loom in such relative time and order that theshed will remain open and at rest until the reed of the lay beats in thefilling to the fell, and as the lay commences to retire from the fellthe change of warp for the next shed to receive filling commences, andthe said shed, the formation of which was not commenced until after theweft-thread had been fully beat in at the fell, is completed for thecommencement of the picking by the time the lay is half-way on itsbackstroke lrom the fell, and theshed so opened is held open during thefurther rotation of the crank-shaft until the filling is heat in at thefell, as first stated. It the crank or lay-shaft and the camshaft wereopcrated at the same relative speed from the commencement to the endingof each shed, as heretofore done in open-shed fancylooms, this verydesirable and advantageous order of shedding, beating in the weft orfilling, and of picking could not be so well or rapidly accomplishedbecause of lack of time.

As herein shown, I have applied to the crankshaft certain applianceswhereby the speed of the crank-shaft is reduced from just about the.

time when the lay strikes the filling at the fell until the lay ishalfway back, or, in other words, about one-third the time taken foreach rotation ofthe crank-shaft is consumed in movin g the crank-shaftovera space of substantially ninety degrees, thus giving am pletime forthe commencement of the shed as the lay commences to retire from thefell, and its completion by the time the cranks ot' the crank-shaft arehalf-way back or on their top centers, when the picking is to becommenced, in order that the shuttle may complete its flight by the timethat the cranks of the crank-shaft arrive at their bottom centers, as110w practiced.

In fancy-looms the same harness-frames, in weaving some patterns, arefrequently lifted and lowered in succession, and their warps are crossedin pairs-as, for instance, when weaving basket-patterns and moving inunison in which are to be employed to depress the harness-frames for anyshed each move in a different time or order with relation to theotherlevers of the same set-as, for instance, the independent levers of eachset of levers to be employed tolift or depress the harness-frames arestarted one a little in advance of the other, so that no two sets ofwarps in independent harnessframes start in the same direction at thesame time; hence the warp-threads do not mat or cling togetherby reasonofcontact of their projecting fibers. Tothis end the invention in cludesnovel devices and organizations of devices for actuating theharness'frames.

Figure 1 represents in front elevation a portion of an open-shedfancy-loom. Fig. 2 is a view of the left-hand end of the loom shown inFig. I; Fig. 3, a sectional detail, showing the racked jacks and usualfluted elevator and depressor gears to actuate them, thepatterirsurface, and the cams actuated by thejacks.

to operate the three-armed upright harnesslevers; Fig. 4, a detailshowingthe cam on the shedding-shaft and the arm moved by it to operatethelocking device which holds the jacks in place after the completion ofeach shed; Fig. 5, a section on theline x m ofFig. 2, showing thegearing whichintermittingly operates the fluted or toothed elevator anddcpressor gears. Fig. 6 is a rear side elevation of the 100111, itscentral portion being broken out to show both end frames of the loom andthe gearing for connecting the crank -.shaft with the cam-shaft belowit, which latter actuates the shedding-shaftand the devices for formingthe shed, and also the picking-sticks. Fig. 7 is a view of only theleft-hand end of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the line at as,Fig. 7, through the variable-speed device, the crank-shaft being inelevation. Fig. 9 is a section of part of the variable-speed device inthe line 00 00 Fig. 8; Fig. 10, a view of the loose gear and its bearingplaced eccentrically to the crank-shaft, as it will appear when lookingat Fig. 8 from the left of the dotted line at 3;, Fig. 8. Fig. 11 is anend view of the loom, showing the variable-speed device, the cranks ofthe crank-shaft being in their highest positions; Fig. 12, a similarview with the lay'substantially in its farthest position forward; andFig. 13 is a sectional detail taken through the notched collar c iandthe notched hubc, the lower end of the shaft 0 and the shaft 0* beingshown in elevation.

The loom-frameA, of proper shape to contain the working parts, hassuitable hearings to hold the camshaft A, which will be driven in anyusual manner, the said shaft being provided in practice with arms 8",having rolls 8 to strike shoes 8 on shafts s at each sideot' the loom,each shaft s having an arm, s connected by link a with and to actuatethe usual picking stick, a, only one shaft 8? and its connectedpickerstick being shown. The shaft A has a gear,

A which engages a toothed ring or annulus, AF, bored centrally, as shownat Fig. 10, to fit a circular hub-like bearing, a, secured to theloom-frame by a screw, or". a receives through it, at one side of itscenter, or eccentrically, as in Figs. 8 and 10, the

end of, and forms a bearing for, the crank,

shaft A The cranks of the crank-shaft are connected. as usual, with thelay b by links I). The end of the crank-shaft outside the hearing a. hasfixed to it an arm, b grooved at its rear side, as at b (see, Figs. Sand9,) in the direction of its length, to receive theswiveling block I),held by the pin Win the annulus or toothed ring A", mounted loosely inthe bearing-hub a. I

As the toothed ring A is rotated about the hearing-hub a by the gear Aof the camshaft A, the swiveling block I), carried by the ring A andresting in the groove 1) of the-arm fast on the end ofthc crank-shaft,(which lat ter is placed eccentric-ally with relationto the bearing a,)causes the said arm and crankshaftto turn withthe said ring,.bnt at avariable speed from that imparted to the ring by the gear A on thecam-shaft A, for the swiveling block, during each revolution of the ringA will, it will be seen, travel from the position shown in Fig. 8 to theouter end of the groove b of the arm I) and back again. When the blockI; is in the groove, b nearest the crankshaft, as in Fig. 8, thecrank-shaft will be moved at" its greatest speed, and vice versa.

In Fig. 12 the arm I; is supposed to be moving gradually and thecrank-shaft has nearly reached its slowest speed, and the hay is justbut in Fig. ll the lay has been moved halfway back and has commenced itsfast movement, and the fast motion continues until the parts assume theposition shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

The ring A", its swiveling block, the bearing a, and the grooved arm bsecured to the crank shaft, constitute what I denoininate the variableor fast or slow speed device; and I desire it to be understood that inplace of the said device shown 1 may employ any other usual orwell-known variable-speed mechanism.

The cam-shaft A, at its left-hand end, look- .ing at the front of theloom, has on it a bevelgear, 0, meshing with a bevel-gear, c, secured toa short shalt, 0", (see Fig. 13,) held in hearing 0 and provided at itsupper end with a collar, 0", the top of which is notched, as shown inFig. 6, to be engaged by a sleeve, 0, splined to and so as to slide onbut rotate with the vertical shedding shaft 0 with which the shaft 0",holding the bevel-gear c, is in line. The short shaft 0", collar c andsleeve 0 are substantially as in United States Patent No. 177,323. Thecollar 0 and sleeve 0 enable This bearing about to commence its backwardmovement;

4 amen the shed-forming devices and their patternchain to bedisconnected, when desired, from the control of the shaft A, and whensuch devices are disconnected the shed-forming shaft may be turned byhand through the handwheel d shaft (1, and bevel-gear d, which latter,(see Fig. 2,) engages the bevel-wheel c on the shedding-shaft. Theclutch may be disengaged by the lever 0 the forked end of which engagesa groove of the sleeve 0. The upper end of shaft 0 has on it abevel-gear, c whichengages a bevel-gear, on the shafte, said shaft 6having at its opposite end a wheel, 6, (see Figs. 1 and 2 and detailFig. 5,) having a toothed and a plain orsmooth surface. The toothedsurface of the wheel 6 engages intermittingly the small toothed gear 0on the shaft of the'long elevator gear or fluted cylinder 6 and turns itonce and leaves it at rest. The gear 6 has one of its teeth omitted,(see Fig. 1,) and is provided with a connected holding device,2, whichstrikes a smooth part, 3, (see Figs.2 and 5,)of the wheel a just as thetooth of the gear 6 next ahead of the space left therein by omitting atooth, ceases to act, thus enabling the device 2 to hold theelevator-gear e at rest until the toothed portion of the Wheel e againarrives in position to engage the gear a". The elevator-gear 6 at itsopposite end, has on it (see Fig.6) a pinion,e which, through anidle-wheel, 0 engages a pinion, a on the shaft of and rotates the longfluted or toothed depressor-gear 6 the two gears e and e (shown clearlyin Fig. 3) thus moving at the same time, but acting upon the jacks, asshown, in opposite directions, to enahle one to lift and the other todepress the racked jacks 7th, herein shown as each consisting of twobars jointed together at h The upper portions, h,of the jacks are,from ashort distance below their upper ends, toothed at each edge to beengaged by the fluted gears e 0 and each row of teeth at one end has anisolated tooth, 16, to permit the gears to run out, as described inUnited States Patent No.

239,939, April 12,1881. The lower portions or tails, hf, of the jacksare toothed-only at their front edge, and the teeth of each lowerportion, h, are sufiicient in number to engage two gears, 1m, of equalsize, held loosely on parallel studs or rods 1 m. Each gear 1 hasattached to it a cam, l 1 and each gear at a cam, m or m shaped withrelation to each other as shown in Fig. 3, so as to enable both of thesaid cams Z and mt, or Z and m, to remain constantly in contact with thehorizontal arm n of that one of the three'armed vertical harness-leversG with which the said cams cooperate. One of these cams, l or 1 acts onthe upper side of an 211111,, while a cam, m or m acts against the underside of the said arm,

and the harness-levers are thus moved positively in both directions.Viewing Fig. 3, it will be seen that cam l is a little larger and alittle differently shaped than its opposed fellow cam m It will also benoticed that the next cam (marked m at the rear of cam m is ofslightly-different shape between its toe and heel, and that the samedifference exists between the cam Z and the cam 1 next at the rear ofit. The rods 1 m thus receive upon them two rows of the cams described,which are of such slightly-different shape as to operate theharness-franles in substantially the order hereinbefore stated, in orderthat the harness-levers which for the same shed are to be moved in thesame direction will bemoved in a different time between the commencementand end of their movement, to separate from each other all contiguouswarps. The pairs of cams l m and l m will preferably be set with theirpoints of greatest throw one ahead of the other, so that the cams of theseries of cams which are to operate the harness-levers to raise theharness-frames, connected therewith by the usual cording, will act firstto start and move one of the levers which is to raise one of the frames,and then start and move another of the said levers; but the cams are soshaped and operated that, notwithstanding they start at different timesthe levers which are to move in the same direction, they subsequentlybring all the said levers into the same line as the shed is completed.

The upper ends of thejacks (see Fig. 3) are acted upon by the weightedpushers o, strung The pushers have toes end of the jack is below thepusher opposite it, as shown by the first jack and pusher in Fig. 3.

The jacks, at their rear sides, are notched at two places, (see Fig. 3,)to be engaged by ajack-locking device, 1, both when the jacks are fullylifted and when fully depressed, thus locking thejacks in place untilthe shed is to be again changed. This locking device or holder iscomposed of a bar carried by arms 5, secured to a rock-shaft, 6, held inbrackets 7, secured to the end frame of the loom. The said shaft 6 hasat its end an arm, 8, bent at its upper end, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4,to be actedupon, as each shed is to be started, by a cam, 9, on theshedding-shaft 0 The pattern-surface g derives its movement from thegearf, (see Fig. 6,) gearf, and the usual pin-wheel and star-wheel, g,the latter being on the shaft of the pattern-surface.

I am aware that a hand-operated loom having shedding devices carried byand moving backward and forward with thelay while the shed is open hasbeen used for weaving window-blind material, wherein the filling was ofwood or straw, and the warp wasemployed only at distant intervals, andthat insuch These push- Y IOO armneia n loom the shed has been held openand dis tended while the lay, in its forward movement,

blind-slat loom such as referred to, organized as apower-loom and run bypower, could sorted and pressed into the fell of the not be employed toweave fancy fabrics having fine warps, for the eyes or parts of thebeddles which in the said loom travel backward and forward over thestationary warps ot' the open shed would instantly destroy warps such asemployed in fancy-looms of the class upon which this my invention is animprovement.

1. The combination, with the lay, the reed, the picking-sticks, and theharnesses of a fancy-loom, of mechanism for operating such lay, pickingsticks, and harnesses in the order specified, and a pattern mechanismfor governing the selection of said harnesses, whereby the warp is movedto form the shed during the backward passage of the lay, and all thewarp-threads are held taut or stretched and the shed open while thefillingis being incloth, substantially as described. l

2. The combination of the following instrumentalities, viz: thecam-shaft, its connected shedding-shaft, harness-levers, jacks, elevator and depressor, and intermediate connecbut a tions between the jacksand harness-levers to move the harness-levers, a pattern-surface andmeans to move it, picking-sticks and intermediate devices between themand the camshaft to move the picking sticks, the lay, crank-rods b, thecrank-shaft, and a variablemotion or fast and slow speed mechanism,substantially as described, between the canr shaft and crank-shaft toautomatically change the relative speed of the cam and crank-shaftsduring a portion of each rotation thereof, substantially as set forth.

3. The pattern-surface, means to operate it, racked j acks, elevator anddepressor, means to move the said elevator and depressor, the threearmedharness-levers, and the harness-frames and cording, combined with thedouble sets of cams and their gears, actuated by the said jacks, thecams being constructed and arranged as described, whereby they areadapted to move at a different speed or order the harness-levers of eachset of levers which are to be moved in the same direction for the sameshed, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI have signed myname' to this specification in thepresence of two sub-' scribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

H. L. ADAMS, J. B. SYME.

GEO. GROMPTON. i

